When I was 14 or 15, I fell in love for the first time, and I'm pretty sure that girl almost dumped me based solely on my love of the Swans. It was at a time when my mom would drive me around in our old Plymouth minivan, and was kind enough to let me play my music all the time. She hated the Swans as well.

Time passed, I carried on with my life (without the girl, with the mother) and the Swans drifted away. I would catch songs from time to time, and they sounded mellow. Tonight, they firmly planted themselves in my playlist once again.

Their show at Dickens was one of the best I've seen. Loud — oh so painfully, organ shakingly loud — and intense. Swans proved that they haven't softened. The music was orchestral in its chaos, alternating between … Read More

Maybe it's not the most exciting thing in the world to say that two harpsichords are coming to Calgary, but if you've ever checked out the collection at the National Music Centre, you know that it's a lot cooler than you'd guess.

But it's not just harpsichords. The NMC is partnering with Library and Archives Canada, which is loaning the instruments, to share knowledge, work together on exhibitions and develop joint programs. The agreement will last two years.

The new partnership is being celebrated at an event today (happening... right... now!).

There must’ve been entire suburbs erected in the southern sunny states when they first discovered the formula for vanilla American pop-punk. Those rumbling, hardcore-inflected fast parts with bright, smooth, nasally vocals sugar rush their way to the slow bits, themselves a neutered, Tide-scented version of beefy breakdowns. Take a page from the theatre of singalongs and mosh parts, but scrub it clean of any legitimate anger. American pop-punk is incredible.

Before my good friend Carl and I could enjoy New Found Glory, performing their 2002 classic Sticks and Stones in its entirety on May 29 at MacEwan Ballroom, we had to endure the sounds of Georgia pop rock band Cartel (we missed Living With Lions because we were trying … Read More

At the end of every week, I reward myself for slogging through a million hype bands and flashes in the pan with "pop-punk Friday" (or, if I'm tweeting about it, #poppunkfriday). Secretly, in my headphones, while everyone thinks I'm listening to Dirty Beaches or whatever, I'm plowing through the entire Gob discography, arguing with myself about which Punk-o-rama comp is the best, or updating my '90s pop-punk blog. Pop-punk Fridays rule.

In the late summer of this year, however, I'll be treated to a pop-punk weekend, as the organizers behind X-Fest have landed dick-joke-loving, low guitar hanging gods of the octave chord Blink-182 to headline their fest. As if that weren't enough to appease each of our inner '90s teens, they've also nabbed  … Read More

Classical music review: Kensington Sinfonia
Sunday, May 19th at Hope Lutheran Church

Germans perfected it, Russians militarized it, Americans made it swing — but only the Italians could have invented the concerto. All genres of music feature conflict, but few revel in it with so much gusto. It's the one versus the many, bravado versus restraint, conversation versus confrontation — leave the gun, take the cannoli, and check out this cadenza.

It's also one of the most beloved forms of music by audiences as well as musicians. Currying the favour of both groups, the Kensington Sinfonia programmed a bunch of concertos for their 2012-13 season. Almost every member of the ensemble was featured as soloist, plus a few special guests. The … Read More

Unfun, the Vancouver-based pop-punk band that also includes two Calgarians, were involved in a fatal accident on May 9. While all members of the band escaped with their lives, the driver of the car who hit them passed away.

Currently on tour through the United States (a trip that brought them to Calgary’s Wonder Emporium on May 1), their van was hit and totaled in Indiana. One member was on a respirator for seven hours, while two others were hospitalized for upwards of 30 hours.

Frontman Leonardo Bones shared the following statement as to what happened:

We played in Hammond that nite and after the show 4 people jumped Declan and Bee in the bar and beat them up pretty badly. When we confronted them, we realized they had more friends … Read More

“I’m not allowed to swear, ‘cause this is a church,” remarked British consul-general Tony Kay at the start of Revv 52’s British Rhapsody Thursday evening.

“But this show is f....antastic!”

Kay was definitely correct In the sense of “fantastic” being unrestrainedly extravagant, and mostly right about it being wonderful and remarkable. Performing the best of British pop from the 60s through today, Revv 52 was clearly having a ball,  and it couldn’t help but rub off on an almost-full house at River Park United Church.

Although the 50-voice ensemble can sing quite well, their sheer gusto was the standout quality. In the concert’s first half,  the choir was competent on “There’s a Kind of Hush”, “Yesterday” and “A Whiter Shade of Pale” but they fared much … Read More

You probably don't need any more festival announcements to clutter your schedule, but this one's too big to pass up. On Friday, July 19, Diplo's Mad Decent label will throw a Mad Decent Block Party in conjunction with the Hifi Club and Union Electronic. We're still waiting on confirmation as to where they're holding it, but the lineup has just been announced and its quite a doozy.

In addition to Diplo's own Major Lazer sound system, festival participants include Zeds Dead, Dillon Francis, Flosstradamus, Big Gigantic, Paul Devro and Smalltown DJs.

Tickets for the party are available for presale tomorrow, with a general sale taking place on Saturday, May 4. More information on the fest is available here.

This year, from June 19 to 22, Sled Island will once again send you on a wild ride through Calgary as you try to cram in as many performances as possible before you pass out on a bench somewhere.

Now, you can start stressing about what acts to see as the organizers have let loose the (more or less) full lineup for this year's festivities.

Below, you can check out just how many bands are cramming into Calgary's venues this June. To pick up your Sled passes, head here.

100 Mile House
The Abramson Singers
Adolyne
Alanadale
The Allovers
The Almighty Rhombus
AM Static
Anchoress
Andy Haynes
Arrowz
Astral Swans
Axis of Conversation
B-Lines
The Backhomes
BadBadNotGood
The Basement Demons
Bear Mountain
The Beets
Ben Caplan
Ben Disaster
The … Read More

Denzal Sinclaire

A second National Jazz Summit will be held this year with three days of concerts and workshops taking place at the National Music Centre from May 23 to 25.

The Big Show will be held Friday, May 24 with popular Canadian jazz vocalist Denzal Sinclaire, accompanied by a local rhythm section.

Other scheduled events include Canadian Covers on Thursday, May 23, showcasing emerging and resident jazz musicians from The Banff Centre’s international workshop, and followed by vocalist AJ Benoit and Calgary jazz musicians covering Canadian songwriters.

The summit wraps up on Sunday, May 25 with workshops — including a vocal workshop with Sinclaire, and an ensemble workshop led by award-winning performer and … Read More